Here’s an article that I believe can benefit almost anyone. Why? Because almost anyone and everyone suffers from headaches, some more frequently than others. In fact, every 10 seconds, someone in the United States goes to the emergency room with a headache or migraine. Plus, more than $1 billion is spent on over-the-counter medications to treat headaches and Migraines.

Migraine headaches are known as vascular headaches, meaning they result from excessive blood flow into the head, which causes pressure. The cause of migraines ranges from stress and tension to hormonal changes to allergic reactions. Genetic predisposition, learned habits, certain medications, dietary factors, psychological problems, physical disturbances, environmental factors, body structural problems and lifestyle factors can also be attributed to causing headaches.

What you may find most astonishing however, is that some medications including those designed to treat headaches including those used to treat headaches can actually cause them. Use of these medications can lead to "medication overuse headache" (MOH). Over the past 15 years, researchers from Princeton University have determined that these medications are most responsible for causing headaches.

• Triptans, a newer class of drugs, increased headaches from 0 percent to 22 percent
  
  
• Analgesics (painkillers) increased from 8 percent to 32 percent
  
  
• Overuse headache from combinations of acute medications increased from 10 percent to 23 percent

Based on these statistics alone, one should implement the application of alternative and natural methods to treating headaches. These methods include massage, stretching, aromatherapy, gel pack hydrotherapy application, herbs, acupuncture, stress reduction methods, chiropractic or osteopathic and homeopathic treatments.

My top recommendation to relieve headaches naturally is acupuncture. According to the British Medical Journal, July 29, researchers in Germany performed a study that involved dividing 270 patients with similar symptoms into three groups for a randomized, controlled trial. Over an eight-week period, the three 3 groups were treated using 3 techniques. The first was treated with full traditional acupuncture, the second with minimal acupuncture, and the third with neither method.

Headache rates dropped by almost half in the group that was treated with “traditional acupuncture.” They also experienced 7 fewer days of headaches in the four weeks following the trial than they did in the four weeks prior to it.

The results of those in the “minimal acupuncture group” were very similar. They experienced an average drop of 6.6 days with headaches.

The third group which had no acupuncture performed on them saw an average drop of only 1.5 days. That’s just 10% less than what they had experienced prior to the study.

The conclusion that the researchers came to is that acupuncture is just as effective as or more effective in treating tension headaches than treatments already accepted.

Aside from acupuncture, here are 6 tips to treat headache pain:

1. At the first sign of pain, give yourself a mini-massage. Press gently using the pads of your fingers and rub the scalp, back of the neck, temples and shoulders.
   
   
2. Apply hot or cold treatment or alternate between the two. To apply hot treatments, you can take a hot bath or shower, or place a hot, wet washcloth or heating pad on the back of your neck. Foe cold treatments, place an ice pack on your forehead, the back of your neck or the top of your head.
   
   
3. Just a few drops of lavender or peppermint essential oil into your bath will work wonders as well. Or you can even some on your temples, the nape of the neck and the hairline.
   
   
4. Feverfew which is an herbal tea is also a great choice as well as chamomile and peppermint as they are calming.
   
   
5. Supplements work great if you suffer from headaches frequently. Calcium and magnesium relieve muscular tension. Bromelain reduces inflammation.
   
   Glucosamine sulfate can help to relieve pain and Coenzyme Q10 increases tissue oxygenation.
   
   
6. Drink a glass of pure water every two hours. Water will flush out toxins and also keep the head and neck muscles supple.

So the next time you feel a headache coming on, take a look at the stats and flush the meds down the toilet. Remember, there’s always a healthy alternative..